Studia Pedagogiczne. Problemy Społeczne, Edukacyjne i Artystyczne

Tom 19

Współczesne problemy zawodu nauczyciela i pedagoga

Redakcja naukowa Wanda Dróżka, Bożena Matyjas

Uniwersytet Humanistyczno-Przyrodniczy

Jana Kochanowskiego

Kielce 2010

Spis treści

Wprowadzenie…………………………………………………………………………………9

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………...11

ARTYKUŁY I ROZPRAWY

WANDA DRÓŻKA (Kielce), Problemy funkcjonowania zawodowego nauczycieli w okresie

zmiany społeczno-edukacyjnej……………………………………………………………….23

MAŁGORZATA KWA ŚNIEWSKA (Kielce), Zmiana roli nauczyciela przedszkola w

kontekście założeń reformy systemu edukacji………………………………………….…….49

AGNIESZKA KACZMARCZYK, MAREK KĄTNY (Kielce), Nauczyciel – zawód, misja

czy powołanie?....................................................................................................................... 65

MAŁGORZATA WASILEWSKA (Kielce), Aktualizowanie kompetencji zawodowych

nauczycieli w warunkach demokracji………………………………………………………...77

MARZENA PĘKOWSKA (Kielce), Kształcenie i dokształcanie nauczycieli w założeniach

polityki oświatowej Unii Europejskiej...................................................................................91

BOŻENA MATYJAS (Kielce), Pedagog społeczny w pracy z rodziną – formy pomocy i

wsparcia……………………………………………………………………………………..101

MAŁGORZATA KRAWCZYK-BLICHARSKA (Kielce), Pedagog pracy – profesja

przyszłości…………………………………………………………………………………...111

MAŁGORZATA KALISZEWSKA (Kielce), Bogacenie warsztatu pedagoga o esej……...123

BADANIA I KOMUNIKATY

ZUZANNA ZBRÓG (Kielce), Więzi emocjonalne w grupie nauczycieli z niepublicznych

szkół podstawowych………………………………………………………………………...147

TOMASZ ŁĄCZEK (Kielce), Wartość autorytetu nauczyciela jako czynnik prawidłowego

przebiegu edukacji szkolnej…………………………………………………………………161

RENATA MISZCZUK (Kielce), Początkujący nauczyciel we współczesnej szkole. Wartości,

cele życiowe i zawodowe……………………………………………………………………171

MAŁGORZATA MOLENDA (Kielce), Problemy współczesnej edukacji (z doświadczeń

nauczyciela kształcenia zintegrowanego)………………………………………………….. 187

JUSTYNA MIKO-GIEDYK (Kielce), Wiedza nauczycieli na temat barier edukacyjnych

występujących w środowisku wiejskim……………………………………………………..197

EWA KULA, MARZENA PĘKOWSKA (Kielce), Jakość kształcenia nauczycieli w Polsce na

tle wybranych krajów europejskich. Próba porównania…………………………………….213

KATARZYNA KRZYSTANEK (Kielce), Nauczyciel wobec fenomenu gier

komputerowych……………………………………………………………………………..225

AGNIESZKA SZPLIT (Kielce), Kompetencje nauczycieli języków obcych w Polsce i

Europie………………………………………………………………………………………237

TERESA GIZA, JOLANTA MASSALSKA (Kielce), Realizowanie zadań dotyczących

kształcenia i opieki nad uczniami zdolnymi przez nauczycieli i pedagogów……………….249

PAULINA FORMA (Kielce), Pedagog szkolny w procesie wspomagania edukacji,

socjalizacji i wychowania dziecka…………………………………………………………..263

MAŁGORZATA WOLSKA-DŁUGOSZ (Kielce), Rola i zadania szkolnego doradcy

zawodowego…………………………………………………………………………………273

PATRYCJA HANYGA-JANCZAK (Kielce), Nauczyciel – wychowawca – organizator czasu

wolnego we współczesnej szkole……………………………………………………………285

ANNA RÓG (Kielce), Rola i zadania pedagoga w placówce wsparcia dziennego…………299

ANNA RÓG (Kielce), Pedagog czy rodzic? O matkach zastępczych w Wioskach Dziecięcych

SOS………………………………………………………………………………………….309

PAULINA FORMA, MAŁGORZATA WOLSKA-DŁUGOSZ (Kielce), Zadania pedagoga w

zakresie pomocy rodzinie ubogiej…………………………………………………………..319

RECENZJE, SPRAWOZDANIA I OPINIE

Wiga Bednarkowa, O talentach w szkole, czyli Siedmiu wspaniałych, Fraszka Edukacyjna Sp.

z o.o, Warszawa 2010, ss. 155 – Alois Suchanek…………………………………………...333

Edukacja dla rozwoju, red. J. Szomburg P. Zbieranek, Instytut Badań nad Gospodarką

Rynkową, Gdańsk 2010 – Wiga Bednarkowa………………………………………………337

Bertrand Russell, Education and the Social Order, Routledge Classics, London and New

York 2010, ss. 186 – Paweł Bankiewicz…………………………………………………….343

Contents

Wprowadzenie…………………………………………………………………………………9

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………...11

ARTICLES & ESSAYS

WANDA DRÓŻKA (Kielce), Problems of professional functioning of teachers in the period

of social and educational transformation in Poland…………………………………………..23

MAŁGORZATA KWA ŚNIEWSKA (Kielce), Change in the role of nursery school teacher in

the context of the reform of the educational system………………………………………….49

AGNIESZKA KACZMARCZYK, MAREK KĄTNY (Kielce), Teacher – occupation, mission

or vocation?............................................................................................................................ 65

MAŁGORZATA WASILEWSKA (Kielce), Updating of the professional competence of

teachers in the conditions of democracy……………………………………………………...77

MARZENA PĘKOWSKA (Kielce), Teacher training and teacher development in the

educational policy of the European Union……………………………………………………91

BOŻENA MATYJAS (Kielce), Social educator’s work with family – forms of assistance and

support ………………………………………………………………………………………101

MAŁGORZATA KRAWCZYK-BLICHARSKA (Kielce), Occupational educator –

profession of the future……………………………………………………………………...111

MAŁGORZATA KALISZEWSKA (Kielce), Essay as a form of enriching the educator’s

workshop……………………………………………………………………………………123

RESEARCHES & STATEMENSTS

ZUZANNA ZBRÓG (Kielce), Emotional bonds in a group of teachers from non public

primary schools……………………………………………………………………………...147

TOMASZ ŁĄCZEK (Kielce), The value of teacher’s authority as the factor of correct school

education…………………………………………………………………………………….161

RENATA MISZCZUK (Kielce), Beginner teacher in contemporary school. Values, life and

professional aims…………………………………………………………………………….171

MAŁGORZATA MOLENDA (Kielce), Problems of contemporary education (from the

experiences of an early school education teacher)…………………………………………. 187

JUSTYNA MIKO-GIEDYK (Kielce), Teachers’ knowledge about educational barriers

occurring in rural areas……………………………………………………………………...197

EWA KULA, MARZENA PĘKOWSKA (Kielce), The quality of teacher training in Poland

against the background of chosen European countries. A comparison……………………...213

KATARZYNA KRZYSTANEK (Kielce), Teacher in the face of the phenomenon of

computer games……………………………………………………………………………..225

AGNIESZKA SZPLIT (Kielce), Competences of foreign language teachers in Poland and

Europe……………………………………………………………………………………….237

TERESA GIZA, JOLANTA MASSALSKA (Kielce), Realization of tasks concerning the

education and care of gifted pupils by teachers and educators……………………………..249

PAULINA FORMA (Kielce), School educator in the process of child’s education,

socialization and upbringing………………………………………………………………..263

MAŁGORZATA WOLSKA-DŁUGOSZ (Kielce), The role and tasks of school-careers

officer……………………………………………………………………………………….273

PATRYCJA HANYGA-JANCZAK (Kielce), Teacher educator –social director in

contemporary school………………………………………………………………………..285

ANNA RÓG (Kielce), The role and tasks of the educator in a day social support centre….299

ANNA RÓG (Kielce), Educator or parent? On mother substitutes in SOS Children’s

Villages……………………………………………………………………………………...309

PAULINA FORMA, MAŁGORZATA WOLSKA-DŁUGOSZ (Kielce), Educator’s tasks in

poor family assistance…………………………………………………………….…………319

REVIEWS, REPORTS & OPINIONS

Wiga Bednarkowa, O talentach w szkole, czyli Siedmiu wspaniałych, Fraszka Edukacyjna Sp.

z o.o, Warszawa 2010, ss. 155 – Alois Suchanek…………………………………………...333

Edukacja dla rozwoju, red. J. Szomburg P. Zbieranek, Instytut Badań nad Gospodarką

Rynkową, Gdańsk 2010 – Wiga Bednarkowa………………………………………………337

Bertrand Russell, Education and the Social Order, Routledge Classics, London and New

York 2010, ss. 186 – Paweł Bankiewicz…………………………………………………….343

WPROWADZENIE

Rozważania nad współczesnymi problemami zawodu nauczyciela i pedagoga znajdują swoje głębokie uzasadnienie w sytuacji, gdy w poddanych globalnej zmianie, nowoczesnych społeczeństwach od edukacji, nauczycieli i pedagogów oczekuje się wyjątkowo złożonych, a niekiedy nawet sprzecznych zadań i zaangażowań. Na obszarze tym można obecnie zauważyć silne napięcia i konflikty pomiędzy bardziej tradycyjnymi funkcjami edukacji i zawodu nauczycielskiego, humanistycznymi i demokratycznymi, wychowaniem do wartości i obywatelskiego życia społecznego a edukacją i rolą nauczyciela jako czynników rozwijania postępu technologicznego oraz neoliberalnej ekonomii, nastawionej na zindywidualizowany zysk i egoistyczną, odosobnioną konsumpcję.

Procesy te nie omijają naszego kraju, gdyż edukacja w nowej strukturze społeczno-politycznej stanęła przed całkiem odmiennymi i zarazem niezwykle trudnymi wyzwaniami. Z jednej strony są to zadania związane zbudowaniem społeczeństwa obywatelskiego, z drugiej zaś z koniecznością odnalezienia się w nowej rzeczywistości społeczno-politycznej i ekonomicznej - już nie tyle społecznie kontrolowanego wolnego rynku (liberalizmu), ile rozwijającego się kapitalizmu korporacyjnego globalnej ery postrynkowej (neoliberalizmu), który obejmuje swoimi wpływami również edukację i całą sferę publiczną.

Jednocześnie wzmaga się dyskusja nad poszukiwaniem dróg wyjścia ze szczególnych zapętleń społecznych i kulturowych, w jakie uwikłała nas nowoczesność. Jak sprawić, aby z jednej strony w nowych warunkach wysokich technologii, dostępności informacji, globalnej ekonomii, z drugiej zaś relatywizmu, indywidualizmu, ryzyka, kryzysu poczucia zaufania i bezpieczeństwa ontologicznego, rozwarstwienia oraz niepotrzebności przywrócić zagubioną przestrzeń publiczną oraz społeczną wrażliwość, nie naruszając praw jednostki do indywidualnego stylu życia i samorealizacji? Jak uchronić szkołę przed mentalnością rynkową, jak zagwarantować ludziom prawo do zdobycia podstawowych kompetencji kulturowych i obywatelskich i do świadomego wyboru swej wolności w kulturowej różnorodności oraz w coraz bardziej indywidualizującym się społeczeństwie?

Wzmożona uwaga skierowana jest ku edukacji i szkole, od której oczekuje się podjęcia tego niezwykle trudnego zadania. Ma ono swój specyficzny wymiar w Polsce, przeżywającej czas radykalnych transformacji ustrojowych. Trudność tego zadania wzrasta w kontekście pewnych, szczególnie widocznych, cech współczesności oraz wielkiej zmiany społecznej i kulturowej, jaka jest jej udziałem. Należą do nich:

• zmienność jako następstwo przejścia do etapu dominacji stałości i trwałości struktur społecznych oraz dyspozycji nabytych przez jednostkę, poprzez etap zindywidualizowanej różnorodności praktyk społecznych, do sytuacji (fazy) płynności, nietrwałości, rozproszenia, fragmentaryzacji i epizodyczności życia społecznego,

• współzależność jako następstwo przejścia do etapu dominacji zależności i podporządkowania jednostki strukturze, poprzez etap względnej niezależności podmiotowej i indywidualizacji, do fazy relacyjności struktur społecznych oraz podwójnej strukturyzacji wraz ze zjawiskiem określanym jako „dialektyka nowoczesności”,

• refleksyjność jako następstwo przejścia od etapu dominacji pewności i słuszności płynącej z wiedzy (teorii) naukowej, poprzez etap ważności tzw. prawdy autentycznej płynącej z wiedzy osobistej, potocznej, lokalnej i praktycznej, do fazy metodologicznego wątpienia zarówno w wiedzę uogólnioną, jak i we własne zasoby poznawcze. Ma to związek z radykalną zmianą statusu wiedzy oraz dominacją w działaniu tzw. doświadczenia zapośredniczonego przez systemy abstrakcyjne, eksperckie oraz media elektroniczne.

Powyższe konteksty współczesnej zmiany cywilizacyjnej i społeczno-kulturowej generują nowe wyzwania wobec nauk społecznych, w tym pedagogiki i pedeutologii, oraz rozwijanych na ich obszarze studiów teoretycznych i praktyk badawczych. Najogólniej rzecz ujmując, dotyczą one

poszukiwania nowych, korzystnych warunków działania społecznego praz rozwoju w zmieniającej się rzeczywistości. Wymaga to:

• po pierwsze, podjęcia dyskursu teoretycznego i badawczego wokół ważnych kwestii: warunków tworzenia się nowego typu moralności, wrażliwości społecznej, rozumu społecznego (w czym ludzie upatrują nowy sens warty zaangażowania i umożliwiający przetrwanie), warunków tworzenia się nowego typu wspólnot, jak i wokół jakich wartości i celów ludzie się porozumiewają, warunków budowania w sobie nowego typu mądrości (jak ludzie współtworzą i wykorzystują wiedzę i uczenie się dla odpowiedzialnego rozwoju);

• po drugie, rozwijania takiej metodologii badań, która dostarczyłaby wiedzy uwrażliwiającej, „otwierającej oczy” nonowego typu problemy społeczne, pobudzającej nie tylko do ich opisywania i wyjaśniania, lecz nade wszystko do ich rozumienia oraz rozwiazywania;

• po trzecie rozwijania nowego typu praktyk badawczych opartych na partnerskim dialogu. W badaniach nad zmianą na znaczeniu zdają się zyskiwać rozmaite praktyki badawcze, rozumiane jako „nieustanny dialog z ludzkim doświadczeniem”. Podejmowane w nich problemy są spostrzegane jako problemy społeczne, wymagające „rozumiejącego patrzenia”, podzielania perspektyw, znaczeń i sensów, wnikania w fenomenologię zmiany1.

Szereg ważnych wyzwań staje przed pedagogiką, w tym pedagogiką społeczną i pracą socjalną w związku z takimi współczesnymi procesami, jak globalizacja i integracja europejska oraz ich społecznymi procesami, jak globalizacja i integracja europejska oraz ich społecznymi skutkami. Pojawia się wiele nowych problemów i zmian we wszystkich dziedzinach naszego życia, lecz nade wszystko w sferach związanych z kształceniem, wychowaniem i działalnością socjalną. Zjawiska takie, jak: pluralizacja form rodziny, niż demograficzny, masowe bezrobocie strukturalne nie pozostają bez wpływu na zawód nauczyciela i pedagoga. Wymagają one od przedstawicieli tych profesji znajomości wielorakich kontekstów procesów społecznych i pedagogicznych, tak w wymiarze jednostkowym, jak i systemowym, w sakli mikro i makro, w wychowaniu rodzinnym, w instytucjach i środowiskach szkolnych i pozaszkolnych, w relacjach płci, w biografiach i tym podobnych na tle ambiwalencji procesów modernizacyjnych, kulturowych i cywilizacyjnych.

Należy tu zwłaszcza podkreślić znaczenie takich elementów, jak gospodarka oparta na wiedzy i usługach, społeczeństwo uczące się oraz cywilizacja informacyjna, które kładą nacisk na konieczność powszechnego kształcenia ustawicznego, uczenia się przez całe życie, kreatywność, od nauczycieli i pedagogów zaś wymagają nieustannego samokształcenia i rozwoju zawodowego.

W polityce edukacyjnej Unii Europejskiej podkreśla się, że edukacja stanowi inwestycję w kapitał ludzki, w budowanie społeczeństwa wiedzy oraz w edukację ustawiczną, co wymaga podnoszenia standardów i jakości kształcenia oraz ścisłego powiązania z sektorem gospodarki. Akcentuje się znaczącą rolę szkoły w procesach społecznej integracji od wczesnego dzieciństwa oraz w zapobieganiu społecznemu wykluczaniu młodzieży, w budowaniu spójności społecznej, w zapobieganiu dyskryminacji, marginalizacji, rasizmowi i ksenofobii, w szerzeniu zasad tolerancji i poszanowania praw człowieka jako podstawowych wartości podzielanych przez społeczeństwa europejskie.

Nowe konteksty edukacji i szkoły, jak rozwój technologii informacyjnych, pluralizacja życia społecznego, wielokulturowość, wzrastająca autonomizacja społeczności lokalnych i szkół, powodują, że nauczyciele i pedagodzy stają przed koniecznością podejmowania nowych zadań, do których muszą być odpowiednio przygotowani. Dotyczy to zwłaszcza większego ich udziału w zadaniach administracyjnych i zarządzaniu szkołą, stosowania nowych technologii informacyjnych i

1 Por.: W. Dróżka, Generacja wielkiej zmiany. Studium autobiografii średniego pokolenia nauczycieli polskich 2004, Kielce 2008.

komunikacyjnych, promowania praw człowieka i wychowania obywatelskiego oraz przygotowania uczniów do kształcenia ustawicznego.

Kolejne zadania pojawiają się w związku z umasowieniem oraz wzrastającym zróżnicowaniem (niejednorodnością) społeczności uczniowskich, wynikającym z integracji dzieci imigrantów oraz dzieci ze specjalnymi potrzebami edukacyjnymi, sprawiającymi trudności wychowawcze, w tym również dzieci i młodzieży ze środowisk biednych i społecznie marginalizowanych. Zadania te przysparzają nauczycielom i pedagogom wiele trudności. Świadczy to o potrzebie wyposarzenia ich w kompetencje z zakresu kształtowania wzajemnych relacji oraz komunikowania się, co ma szczególne znaczenie w odniesieniu do mniejszości etnicznych i językowych oraz uczniów ze specjalnymi potrzebami edukacyjnymi.

Zmiana kontekstu kulturowego i cywilizacyjnego, wysokie oczekiwania społeczne wobec jakości kształcenia, wzrost zadań zawodowych, konieczność ciągłego uczenia się, dokształcania i doskonalenia swych umiejętności sprawiają, że zawód nauczycielski jest zawodem coraz trudniejszym. Jednocześnie nowe wyzwania wskazują, że zawód ten wymaga ludzi zdolnych, tymczasem w wielu krajach i regionach UE obserwuje się niechęć do tego zawodu, a nawet duże ryzyko niedoboru kadry. W świetle najnowszych badań OECD zauważa się, że jest to związane ze zbyt niskimi płacami oraz trudnymi warunkami pracy2 (brak elastyczności w ustalaniu zakresu obowiązków, niewystarczająca niezależność nauczyciela, wymiar czasu pracy, niewystarczające wsparcie pedagogiczne, zły stan budynków szkolnych, konieczność pracy z uczniami mającymi trudności w nauce itp.). Podkreśla się również częste zjawisko braku wsparcia dla młodych nauczycieli w okresie startu zawodowego i adaptacji zawodowej, co może być przyczyną porzucania zawodu w pierwszych latach pracy3.

* * *

W kontekście powyższych rozważań należy rozpatrywać zbiór tekstów pedagogicznych przygotowanych przez pracowników naukowych Wydziału Pedagogicznego i Artystycznego Uniwersytetu Humanistyczno-Przyrodniczego Jana Kochanowskiego. Obejmują one kilkanaście rozpraw, które zostały podzielone na kolejne części opracowania.

W pierwszej części zatytułowanej Artykuły i rozprawy autorzy tekstów rozważają kolejno kwestie, jak: problemy funkcjonowania zawodowego średniego pokolenia nauczycieli w okresie zmiany społeczno-edukacyjnej w Polsce (W. Dróżka); przemiany roli nauczyciela przedszkola w kontekście założeń reformy systemu edukacji (M. Kwaśniewska); nauczyciel – zawód, misja czy powołanie? (A. Kaczmarczyk, M. Kątny); aktualizacja kompetencji zawodowych nauczycieli w warunkach demokracji (M. Wasilewska); kształcenie nauczycieli w założeniach polityki oświatowej Unii Europejskiej (M. Pękowska); praca pedagoga społecznego z rodziną (B. Matyjas); pedagog pracy – profesja przyszłości (M. Krawczyk- Blicharska); wzbogacanie warsztatu nauczyciela i pedagoga o esej (M. Kaliszewska).

Część druga tomu Badania i komunikaty dotyczy następujących zagadnień: więzi emocjonalnych w grupie nauczycieli z niepublicznych szkół podstawowych (Z. Zbróg); wartości autorytetu nauczyciela jako czynnika prawidłowego przebiegu edukacji szkolnej (T. Łączek); obrazu początkującego nauczyciela we współczesnej szkole (R. Miszczuk); problemów współczesnej edukacji (M. Molenda); wiedzy nauczycieli na temat barier edukacyjnych występujących w

2 Raport OECD, Warunki pracy nauczycieli w szkołach, Komisja Europejska Przedstawicielstwo w Polsce, 2009, [online] www.europedirect.um.warszawa [dostep:20.06.2009] 3 Kluczowe problemy w edukacji w Europie, t.3, Zawód nauczyciela w Europie: Profil, wyzwania, kierunki zmian, Raport I, Kształcenie i początki pracy zawodowej, Eurydyce, sieć informacji o edukacji w Europie, red. A. Smoczyńska, Warszawa 2009.

środowisku wiejskim (J. Miko-Giedyk); jakości kształcenia nauczycieli w Polsce w porównaniu z wybranymi krajami europejskimi (E. Kula, M. Pękowska); postaw nauczycieli wobec fenomenu gier komputerowych (K. Krzystanek); kompetencji nauczycieli języków obcych w Polsce i Europie (A. Szplit); realizowania zadań dotyczących kształcenia i opieki nad uczniami zdolnymi (T. Giza, J. Massalska); roli pedagoga szkolnego w procesie wspomagania edukacji, socjalizacji i wychowania dziecka (P. Forma); roli i zadań szkolnego doradcy zawodowego (M. Wolska-Długosz); organizowania czasu wolnego we współczesnej szkole (P. Hanyga-Janczak); roli i zadań pedagoga w placówce wsparcia dziennego (A. Róg); funkcji matek zastępczych w Wioskach Diecięcych SOS (A. Róg); zadań pedagoga w zakresie pomocy rodzinie ubogiej (P. Forma, M. Wolska-Długosz).

W trzeciej części: Recenzje, sprawozdania, opinie zawarte zostały recenzje autorstwa A. Suchanka, W. Bednarkowej oraz P. Banakiewicza.

Autorzy artykułów są w większości członkami Polskiego Towarzystwa Pedagogicznego – Oddziału w Kielcach. Dyskusje prowadzone podczas spotkania wiosną 2008 roku zaowocowały wyborem problematyki niniejszego opracowania oraz decyzją o jego przygotowaniu i publikacji. Wszystkie osoby zainteresowane problematyką pedagogiczną i nauczycielską zapraszamy do lektury. Dziękujemy autorom tekstów za aktywny udział w naszym wspólnym przedsięwzięciu.

Wanda Dróżka, Bożena Matyjas

INTRODUCTION Considerations about the contemporary problems of the teacher and educator profession find

their deep justification in the situation when modern societies undergoing global transformations expect from teachers and educators exceptionally complex and sometimes even contradictory tasks commitments. In this area one can notice at present strong tensions and conflicts between more traditional, humanistic and democratic functions of education and the teaching profession, education for freedom and citizen’s life on the one hand, and education and the role of the teacher as factors of the dissemination of technological progress and neoliberal economy focused on individualized profit and egoistic, isolated consumption.

These processes do not avoid our country because education in the new socio-political structure faces now quite different and unusually difficult challenges. On the one hand, these tasks are connected with the construction of civil society, while on the other, with the necessity of adjustment to the new socio-political and economic reality – it is no longer a publicly controlled free market (liberalism), but rather the developing corporate capitalism of the global postmarket era (neoliberalism), whose influence also affects education and whole public sphere.

Simultaneously, a debate is intensified about finding ways of exit form special social and cultural loopings into which we have been entangled by modernity. How is it possible to revive, in the conditions of high technology, availability of information, global economy on the one hand, and relativism, individualism, risk, crisis of trust and ontological safety, social stratification, and a sense of uselessness on the other, public sensitiveness without breaching the right to individual lifestyle and self-realization? How can school be protected from market mentality how can people be guaranteed the right to acquire basic cultural and citizen competences and the conscious choice of their freedom in cultural heterogeneity and in an increasingly individualized society?

Enhanced attention is directed to education and school, the latter is expected to undertake this unusually difficult task. It has its specific dimension in Poland, which undergoes the time of radical constitutional transformations. The difficulty of this task increases in the context of certain particularly visible features of the present time and the accompanying great social and cultural change. They include:

• variability as the consequence of the shift from the stage of domination of the permanency and durability of social structures and acquired predispositions, through the stage of individualized variety of social practices, to the situation (phase) of liquidity, impermanence, dispersion, fragmentation of social life;

• correlation as the consequence of the shift from the stage of the domination of dependence and subordination of the individual to the structure, through the stage of relative subjective independence and individualization, to the phase of rationality of social structures and double structurization together with the phenomenon defined as the “dialectics of modernity”;

• reflectiveness as the consequence of the shift from the stage of the domination of certainty and rightness derived from scientific knowledge (theory), trough the stage of the importance of so-called authentic truth derived from personal, colloquial, local and practical knowledge to the methodological stage of doubt both in generalized knowledge and one’s own cognitive resources. It has a relationship with the radical change of the status of knowledge and domination in the activity of so-called experience mediated trough abstract, expert systems and electronic media. The above-contexts of the contemporary civilization and socio-cultural change generative new

challengers for social sciences including pedagogy and pedeutology as well as theoretical studies and research practices being developed in these areas. Most generally, they concern new, advantageous conditions of social activity and development in changing reality. This requires:

• firstly, starting a theoretical and investigative discourse about important matters: conditions of the formation of a new type of morality, social sensibility, social rationality (in what perceive a new significance worthy of commitment and enabling survival), conditions of the creation of a new type of communities; how and around which values and aims people communicate; conditions of constructing a new type of wisdom (how people co-create and use knowledge and learning for responsible development);

• secondly, developing such methodology of research which would supply “sensitivizing” knowledge, which” opens one’s eyes to the new type of social problems; that encourages people not only to describe and explain, but above all to understand and provide solutions;

• thirdly, developing a new type of investigative practices based on partnership dialogue. Various investigative practices understood as the “incessant dialogue with human experience” seem to be gaining significance in research on change. Undertaken problems are perceived as social problems that require a “comprehensive look”, sharing of perspectives, senses and meanings, penetrations into the phenomenology of change4. A series of important challenges emerge before pedagogy, including social pedagogy and

social work in connection with such contemporary processes as globalization and European integration and their social effect. A number of new problems and changes occur in all domains of our life, but above all in spheres connected with education, upbringing and social activity. Such phenomena as: pluralization of family forms, low birth-rate, structural mass unemployment exert influence on the teaching profession and the educator. They demand from representatives of these professions acquaintance of manifold contexts of social and pedagogic processes both in the individual and systemic dimension, on the micro and macro scales, in family upbringing, in institutions and school and extraschool environments, in gender relations, and in biographies against the background of the ambivalence of processes of modernization, cultural and civilization changes.

The significance of such elements as the economy based on knowledge and services, learning and information civilization, which emphasize the necessity of general continuing education, lifelong education, and creativity – should be particularly underlined. Teachers and educators are required to continue self-access study and professional development.

In the educational policy of the European Union it is underlined that education accounts for an investment in human capital, in the building of the society of knowledge and in lifelong education, which requires raising of standards and qualities of education and the exact co-operation with the economy. The significant role of school is emphasized in the processes of social integration from early childhood and in prevention of social exclusion of youth, in building social cohesion, in the prevention of discrimination, marginalization, racism and xenophobia, in the propagation of tolerance and respect for human rights as basic values shared by European societies.

The new contexts of education and school, such as the development of information technologies, pluralization of public life, multiculturalism, increasing autonomization of local communities and schools, all that cause teachers and educators to undertake new tasks to which they must be properly prepared. This concerns particularly their greater participation in school administration and management, use of new information and communication technologies, promotion of human right and civic education and preparation of pupils to continuing education.

The subsequent tasks appear in connection with the increasing number of pupils and the increasing differentiation (heterogeneity) of school communities, which results from the integration of immigrant children as well as children with special educational needs, who cause upbringing problems, including children and youth poor and socially marginalized environments. These tasks

4 Cf. W. Dróżka, Generacja wielkiej zmiany. Studium autobiografii średniego pokolenia nauczycieli polskich 2004, Kielce 2008.

create many difficulties for teachers and educators. This is evidence that teachers and educators should be equipped with interpersonal and communicative competences, which has a special significance with reference to ethnic and language minorities and pupils with special educational needs.

The change of the context of culture and civilization, high social expectations of the quality of education, increasing professional tasks, the necessity of continuous learning, additional training and improvement of skills cause the teacher’s profession to be a more and difficult profession. Simultaneously, new challenges indicate that this profession requires clever people; however, in many countries and regions of the EU one ban observe reluctance to this profession and even a high risk of the UE one can observe reluctance to this profession and even a high risk of the shortage of cadres. In the light of latest research of OECD this connected with too low salaries and difficult working conditions5 (lack of flexibility in establishing job description, insufficient teacher independence, work load, insufficient pedagogical support, a bad state of school buildings, necessity to work with mixed ability pupils, etc.). The frequent phenomenon of the lack of support for beginner teachers in the period of professional start and professional adaptation is also emphasized as a cause of resigning form the profession in first years of service.6

* * *

In the context of the above considerations one ought to consider a collection of pedagogic

texts prepared by the scholarly workers of the Faculty of Pedagogy und Art, the Jan Kochanowski University. They include more than a dozen articles which are divided into three thematic groups that make three parts of the publication.

The first part, entitled Articles & Essays, deals with the following issues: problems of professional performance of the middle-aged generation of teachers in the period of social and educational transformations in Poland in the light of autobiographical research (W. Dróżka); transformations of the role of nursery school teachers in the context of the reform of the education system (M. Kwaśniewska); teacher – profession, mission or vocation? (A. Kaczmarczyk, M. Kątny); updating of teachers’ professional competences in the conditions of democracy (M. Wasilewska); teacher training in the foundations of the educational policy of the European Union (M. Pękowska); the work of a social educator with family (B. Mtyjas); labour educator – profession of the future (M. Krawczyk-Blicharska); essay as form enrichment of the workshop of a teacher and educator (M. Kaliszewska).

The second part, Research &Statements, concerns the following problems: emotional bonds in a group of teachers from non public primary schools (Z. Zbróg); the value of teacher’s authority as the factor of correct school education (T. Łączek); beginner teacher in contemporary school, values, life and professional aims (R. Miszczuk); problems of contemporary education (M. Molenda); the knowledge of teachers on the subject educational barriers in rural areas (J. Miko-Giedyk); qualities of the teacher training in Poland in comparison with chosen European countries (E. Kula, M. Pękowska); attitudes of teachers in the face of the phenomenon of computer games (K. Krzystanek); the competence of teachers of foreign languages in Poland and Europe (A. Szpilit); accomplishment of tasks concerning the education and care of gifted pupils (T. Giza, J. Massalska); the role of the school educator in the support process of education, socialization and upbringing of children (P. Forma); the role and tasks of a school-careers officer (M. Wolska-Długosz); the organization of free time in

5 Raport OECD, Warunki pracy nauczycieli w szkołach Komisja Europejska Przedstawicielstwo w Polsce, 2009, [online] www.europendirect.um.warszawa [quoted: 20.06.2009]. 6 Kluczowe problemy edukacji w Europie, vol. 3, Zawód nauczyciela w Europie: Profil, wyzwania, kierunki zmian, Raport I, Kształcenie i początki pracy zawodowej, Eurydyce, sieć informacji o edukacji w Europie, ed. A. Smoczyńska, Warszawa 2009.

contemporary school (P. Hanyga-Janczak); the role and tasks of the educator in a daily family support centre (A. Róg); the function of substitute mothers SOS Children’s Villages (A. Róg); tasks of the educator in assisting a poor family (P. Forma, M. Wolska-Długosz).

The third part, Reviews, Reports & Opinions, contains reviews written by A. Suchanek, W. Bednarkowa and P. Banakiewicz.

The authors of articles are in majority members of the Polish Pedagogical Society – Kielce Branch. Discussions held during a meeting in spring 2008 resulted in the selection of problems presented in this book and its publication.

All persons interested in the problems of pedagogy and teacher development are invited to read this publication. We thank the authors of the texts for active participation in this collective publication.

Wanda Dróżka, Bożena Matyjas

STRESZCZENIA ARTYKUŁÓW W J ĘZYKU ANGIELSKIM Wanda Dróżka Problems of professional functioning of teachers in the period of social and educational

transformation in Poland Summary The article presents results of the nationwide qualitative autobiographical investigation (2002–2004)

concerning the effect of social and educational transformations in Poland on the professional functioning and daily life of the generation of teachers aged 35–55 years. The analysis of experiences and reflections shown in more than 160 spacious memoirs, autobiographies, journals and other statements of personal teachers, illustrates a series of tensions, conflicts and dilemmas in the area of education, school, teacher’s profession and the role of the teacher in the following three dimensions: cultural-axiological, civilizational, sociopolitical and economic, and educational-professional. Findings point to the need for a thorough reorientation in the approach to education and professional development of teachers, and particularly the strengthening of the humanistic, ethical and pedagogic side of these processes.

Małgorzata Kwaśniewska Change in the role of nursery school teacher in the context of the reform of the educational

system Summary Preschool age is a period of dynamic and extensive in the developmental changes for correct

functioning in the consecutive stages of life. Supporting the child through professionally organized pre-school education is thus an undeniable necessity. The assignment is fulfilled by the teacher who should possess suitable training, a proper level of competence and specific character features. The role of the teacher in the process of the education of small children is variable. In a modern manner one expects from the teacher many specific skills which have to favour the full realization of the foundations of the school reform from 2009. The article points to and describes the following areas of new challenges placed before the teacher: creation of new facilities of pre-school upbringing; construction of author’s syllabuses for pre-school upbringing; construction of diagnostic tools to determine the level and the dynamics of child development; elaboration of individual syllabuses for support and correction of child development; creation bonds between nursery schools and children’s parents and with the local environment; self-education, self-improvement.

Agnieszka Kaczmarczyk, Marek Kątny Teacher – occupation, mission or vocation? Summary The work of the teacher is based on the foundation of confidence, responsibility and love. Is it true that

anybody can “teach well”? Is it the occupation which does not require a special talent? Will a teacher, who acquired during his or her studies “techniques of instruction”, achieve the same results like a person for whom work with children is a mission? Are special predispositions needed in this profession? These considerations attempt to find answers to the raised questions, arguing that commitment, the skill of teaching, a gift of disseminating knowledge, and vocation are indispensable in a teacher’s work.

Małgorzata Wasilewska Updating of the professional competence of teachers in the conditions of democracy Summary At the turn of the centuries the range of requirements imposed on teachers was extended significantly.

These requirements are connected with the manner of the execution of the didactic process; planning, and then evaluating pupils’ achievements, self-work and the activity of school; they also concern communication with participants of the education process, resulting from social reforms and the introductions of market economy, advances in science, technology and the use of media in education. The most current list of a teacher’s competences was developed by Wacław Strykowski, who distinguished ten groups of competence: essential competences, psychological-pedagogic competences, diagnostic competences connected with the cognition of pupils, competences in the domain of planning and designing school activities, didactic-methodical competences, communicative competences, media and technical competences, competences connected with the control and assessment of achievements of pupils and with the qualitative measurement of school work, competences related to designing and assessment of syllabuses and school handbooks, self-educational competences connected with professional development.

Marzena Pękowska Teacher training and teacher development in the educational policy of the European Union Summary A discussion has been commenced in Europe about teacher occupational training which should

comply with present-day requirements and guarantee a reliable academic and pedagogic preparation. The aim of the article is the presentation of the main directions of EU educational policy within the range of teacher training and development. The programme of study “Education and training 2010” – The Improvement of the quality of the education and training of teachers and instructors – turns attention to persons who have a strong in-service motivation and the need for the development of competences that enable teachers to cope with changing social needs, and the creation of conditions that will help to go through the stage of education and in-service training, as well as recruitment of candidates to teaching profession. However, the two latest documents, announced by the EU in 2007 and 2009 refer most comprehensively to teacher training. The first one, Conclusions of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of assembled in the Council to develop a common understanding of success factors for the Improvement of the Quality of Teacher Education describes clearly that a high quality of education is the condition for a high quality of training. The latest binding recommendations are contained in the Conclusion of the Council from 26 November 2009 concerning in-service training of teachers and the managerial cadre of schools. It is underlined, amongst others, that the knowledge, skills and the commitment of teachers as well as the ability of school management mostly determine the quality of educational effects. The mentioned documents indicate univocally that teachers must possess comprehensive qualifications; they should be prepared to changes occurring in the contemporary world, and they must also predict them. Hence, the higher quality of teacher training and the more coherent system of qualification, skills and competence assessment, the greater is the efficiency of teachers’ work.

Bożena Matyjas Social educator’s work with family – forms of assistance and support Summary At the outset of the article are explained the concepts of “help” and “support” according to chosen

representatives of social pedagogy. It results from an analysis of their studies that support is a specific form of help. Help and support for a family follow in critical situation; such as those which upset a family’s correct functioning. We can include such situations as unemployment, prolonged illness of one of family members, sudden and tragic death, threat of material wellbeing and other traumatic experiences. For a social educator it is important whether the family in crisis creates threat for their children, and if so it fulfils incorrectly its custodial and upbringing functions. An accurate diagnosis of family situation should be the basis of help and support. Further actions include generating so-called human powers (H. Radlińska) in individual family members in order to change the family from inside. Help and support they will be effective when cohesion occurs between the needs of the family and the kind of given support.

Małgorzata Krawczyk-Blicharska Occupational educator – profession of the future Summary The most important task of education in the era of information and transformation is the formation of

the human being as the creator of his or her development so that they could programme a permanent self-improvement. Priorities of tasks in this scope include first of all the preparation of the individual to an effective participation in civilization, professional development, building a positive relation to oneself and the world, creation of individual career and execution of optimum activities. The new space and the manner of self-realization should motivate individuals to subjective vital decisions, and individual creation should become an aspiration to the equilibrium between chance and risk; aim and failure; change and passivity; development and exclusion. Such a picture of social and educational reality generated the need for a new type of educator. The teacher should be a guide in human choices and an adviser in search for knowledge, self-development and continuing education. It became necessary to create a current balance of the labour educator’s competence who carries out his or her tasks in the society of knowledge. A professional, who is characterized by independence in thinking and activity should have an awareness that his or her educational work is directed towards future and he or she is accountable for the present and next generations, as well as their skill of coping in life. A labour educator is expected to have a package of competence tasks which will enable him or her to achieve orientation in the contemporary world, both in social and professional space, and to provoke and activate creativeness in the range of individual development.

Małgorzata Kaliszewska Essay as a form of enriching the educator’s workshop Summary The publication concerns the proposal of the new recognition of the form of written work of

a pedagogic essay, its inclusion to academic didactics and the use of its versatile values. Mass education and abandoning the general humanistic content in favour of professional issues cause that students’ writing skills are not perfected, they do not contribute to the development of future educators. Particularly, the essay has a special characteristic such as the possibility of combining knowledge resulting from the syllabus with pedagogic and literary reflection and

e.g. with personal digressions on different themes. Therefore, the essay can support and integrate two seemingly contradictory functions of education: socialization and liberating (emancipatory) which are reflected in the set of the competences of future educators. The article deals with the essential features of the essay, its language, changes and functions, which can fulfil in the study or self-study of educators.

Zuzanna Zbróg Emotional bonds in a group of teachers from non public primary schools Summary The article presents results of the author’s own investigation concerning the identification and

satisfaction of chosen categories of social needs of teachers working in non public primary schools in the area the Świętokrzyskie Voivodship: identification with the group and emotional bonds in mutual relations with colleagues/workmates and with school management. Theories of school as the teaching organization emphasize that only organizations which care for their employees have a chance to survive and effectively compete in their own environments. Findings also reveal a distinct improvement of the climate of the work of teachers both in friendly relations and in relations with their superiors, however, not so significant that one could optimistically approach the problem of positive relations among teachers in a school, and as a result the constructive collaboration in the teacher team which can contribute to the improvement of the functioning of the school as the teaching organization. Still the need for belonging to a professional group is satisfied in all the investigated schools on a fairly low level. Teachers do not feel fully identified as members of the professional group, which suggests that collective work and cooperation for the good of the school and schoolchildren are not yet achieved in an optimum way.

Tomasz Łączek The value of teacher’s authority as the factor of correct school education Summary A characteristic element of contemporary school reality is the multitude of processes occurring in the

relations among schoolchildren and between schoolchidren and teachers. Multivectorial interpersonal contacts during school education cause children and young people to encounter different views which vary from their own views. In this situation the schoolchildren’s value system encounters objective obstacles which on the one hand cause difficulty in the internalization of concrete values, and on the other verify positively children’s axiological convictions. Finally, within a lapse of years a consolidation of the individual hierarchy of values follows. The phenomenon favourable in the process of correct school education is the direct presence of the authority of the teacher. However, the authority is never imposed. It does not result from a single decision of persons who recognize a particular individual as their authority. Respect, or exceptional obedience, is often a long-term process which is built laboriously over a long period of time. Its creation requires from the teacher a lot of self-knowledge, wisdom and persistence. The value of the teacher’s authority who by her attitude and statements affects school children is undoubtedly a desirable factor which supports both individual development and the social maturity of schoolchildren.

Renata Miszczuk Beginner teacher in contemporary school. Values, life and professional aims Summary The paper is a fragment of a wider report from the investigation of the professional orientation of

beginning teachers and their determinants. The cognitive aim of this research was the acquisition of the knowledge about the professional orientation teachers in the initial in-service period. The research was carried out in the Świętokrzyskie voivodship among 500 teachers of primary and secondary schools by the method of diagnostic questionnaire. The first year or two years of teaching are considered conclusive in the development process of a qualified teacher. In the initial in-service period there appear all dimensions of professional development which lasts the whole period of the teacher’s career; however, in the initial period these phases are more intense: the dimension of socialization to professional culture, the dimension of knowledge and skills, and the axiological dimension, the personal (private) dimension, and the reflective dimension. Early professional experiences bears on the further and individual style of teacher’s performance, similarly as the experiences of early childhood have a bearing in some degree on the ontogenetical development of the individual. The course of the initial in-service period also makes the real plane of the verification of the quality of a teacher’s professional preparation, his or her assessment and planned modifications.

Małgorzata Molenda Problems of contemporary education (from the experiences of an early school education teacher) Summary The aim of early-school education is to aid the child in intellectual, emotional, social, ethical, physical

and aesthetic development. The new core curriculum of early-school education was constructed by the method of gradual approximations. It was elaborated in such a way that pupils’ knowledge and skills at the end of Form I and Form III are precisely described. It is the core school curriculum that may be transformed into the national curriculum with all the consequences of authoritarianism, well-known from the past of Polish education. On the other hand, at least within the range of the early-school education, it concentrates rather (although imperfectly) on the needs of the system of external examinations than on the needs of the school itself, teachers and pupils. There are plenty of dilemmas; however, one ought to remember that the reform came into force and in the large measure it is the teacher who decides about its success because the teacher is the most important organizer of the teaching-learning process. Education requires constant troubleshooting both among its creators and in more general contexts. Parents, being fully acknowledged participants of the education of their children, critically evaluate the shape of education proposed by the Ministry of National Education – particularly early-school education. The teacher is forced today to a considerable independence; they must cope in poorly defined and still changing situations – at school, in the local community, in the system of education. Simultaneously, they should be creators and executors of pedagogic conceptions. They should be reflective practicians who can analyse and improve their work, but they are also responsible for the material condition of the school. There are many other professional and social duties of teachers.

Justyna Miko-Giedyk Teachers’ knowledge about educational barriers occurring in rural areas Summary The article concerns the problems of educational inequalities in education, and the problems of the

equation of educational opportunities by rural teachers. It contains a fragment of empirical

research on the subject of the knowledge of educational barriers among teachers. The analysis of the knowledge of teachers is based on empirical findings carried out in the Kielce poviat at the turn of 2008 among teachers of primary and secondary schools in rural areas. The results of the investigation show that teachers do not know educational barriers occurring in rural areas. Most of them, of course, know what the concept of the “educational barrier” means and where these barriers appear most often, but they do not know individual kinds of these barriers or else they avoid drawn to provide an answer. The best recognized educational barrier is the economic one, and the majority of answers were correct; however least well-known educational barrier is gender, and over half of the surveyed teachers gave an incorrect definition.

Ewa Kula, Marzena Pękowska The quality of teacher training in Poland against the background of chosen European countries.

A comparison Summary The article presents problems concerning teacher training in Europe and Poland. In Europe teacher

training is both a starting point for a teacher and steering of permanent professional development. Constantly increasing requirements imposed on teachers cause their training to be for a long time one of the main areas of reforms, therefore the article discusses the most important changes in this problem in the countries of Western and Central Europe. Good solutions in the world are signalled too. In the context of the redefinition of the competence of teachers the role of the institutions of higher learning is shown, particularly in the process of quality assurance in education. Attention is paid to the significance of the European frame structure of qualifications, which makes possible a more precise definition of dependence between different qualifications of graduates in Europe.

Katarzyna Krzystanek Teacher in the face of the phenomenon of computer games Summary Computer games are defined as a socio-cultural phenomenon of the end of the 20th century. Playing

computer games has become the main leisure activity for contemporary young people. Computer entertainment has got many advantages and may promote development, but on the other hand, it also includes many dangers. Many of the young people do not realize the dangers which are the results of too intensive or inadequate usage of a computer and the Internet. So it is very essential to introduce media education to schools. Its main aim would be to explain the psychological mechanisms of the electronic media and their strong and unconscious influence on the users. The main aim of medial education should be to prepare children and teenagers is proper usage of computers not only for entertainment purposes. Moreover, media education should be directed not only to young users but also to their carers. Parents are not prepared enough to take the role of a child’s guide in the virtual reality, and this is them who should protect children from consequences of computer entertainment.

Agnieszka Szplit Competences of foreign language teachers in Poland and Europe Summary The author presents the complexity of the problem of the description of the competence of foreign

language teachers. Polish standards of assessment are described against the background of European models. The analysis is made in three aspects. The first one includes the basic

components of the syllabuses of teacher education in Europe (methodology, pedagogy, linguistics and literary studies), and their significance in the opinion of foreign language teachers in Poland and other countries of Europe.

The following aspect includes detailed competences described in the most important documents which constitute the outline of requirements concerning competences and education of the teachers of English as a foreign language, such as Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Guidelines, The European Profiles for Language Teacher Education – A Frame of Reference, elements of The European System of the Description of Language Education (CEFR), and Profiling Grid now being prepared by EAQUALS. As the recapitulation the author presents chosen lists of basic competences of teachers created in Poland (the instruction of the Minister of National Education and Sport) and in Europe (The professional profile of language educators), analyses and compares requirements and standards.

Teresa Giza, Jolanta Massalska Realization of tasks concerning the education and care of gifted pupils by teachers and

educators Summary The tasks of teachers and educators concerning the education and care of gifted schoolchildren result

from the regulation of the Minister of National Education and Sport of 7 January 2003, about the organization of the psychological and pedagogical assistance to children and youth in public kindergartens, schools and educational centres. The activities include support of pupils with outstanding talents. A school head is responsible for the organization and realization of these tasks and educators and school psychologists provide that assistance. Help to gifted children and youth is one of the basic tasks of the psychological and pedagogical centre. The article presents statistical data (the report of the Highest Inspection Chamber and data from the database of the Educational System) which reveal the lack of interest of schools and psychological centres in the support of schoolchildren with overaverage abilities and predispositions. Two major causes of such state can be indicated: the lack of the possibility of teacher and educator training in the scope of pedagogy of abilities and the lack of the univocal support for teachers working with gifted pupils, both in procedures of professional advancement and financial incentive. In this context it is proper to promote single initiatives of supporting gifted pupils. The article describes the programmed of work with gifted pupils carried on from the school year 2007/2008 in the Municipal Psychological and Pedagogical Centre in Kielce.

Paulina Forma School educator in the process of child’s education, socialization and upbringing Summary The triad, in which the essence of maturity is contained, is situated on the planes of socialization,

upbringing and education. In today’s social and educational reality, in which rapid changes are observable, these three categories are justified. It is confirmed by the fact that common objectives of socialization, upbringing and education give the possibility of developing a mature personality, and in consequence, “healthy society”. Although the context of the above, social categories was frequently the object of many analyses, it is necessary to reread those problems by scientists, and formulate a new approach and interdisciplinary verification. It is significant to characterize the role of educator – creator of those processes. What is his or her role? How do they fulfil the implied functions and carry out their tasks? These are only some of the investigative problems which imply directions of pedagogic research.

Małgorzata Wolska-Długosz The role and tasks of school-careers officer Summary The history of occupational guidance services in Poland has already a centennial tradition.

Occupational guidance is chronologically the oldest term because it defines activities which appeared at the beginning of the 20th century as the answer to economic, technological and social transformations. The idea of occupational guidance was predication about the usefulness of an individual to execute a given occupation. It was based on psychological tests. Occupational guidance was connected with the work of psychologists and most often it was reduced to a single interview. The decisive date of the change of the function and shape of occupational guidance centres was the year 1989 when Poland adopted the application of the French model of vocational orientation. The decentralization of the central authority led to renaming the educational-vocational centres to psychological-pedagogic centres. The beginning of the 1990s witnessed the emergence of vocational guidance institutions, created both by the state and private persons. Among new state institutions one ought to mention Labour Clubs and Centres of Professional Information (renamed from Centres of Vocational Information and the Planning of Vocational Career), which have been established at job centres, and among private institutions mention should be made of cadres banks, consulting firms, personal consulting agencies. The key aims of national policy within the range of occupational guidance have been described in the National Strategy for the Employment and the Development of Human Resources. The basic aim of this strategy is the achievement of a higher commitment of the population in the process of work. It is of paramount importance to create the system which assures a wider access to professional information and the improvement of the quality of the accessibility of advisory services. It is also necessary to create a greater integration of all respective institutions and interested parties. This will increase the efficiency and complementarity of such services.

Patrycja Hanyga-Janczak Teacher educator –social director in contemporary school Summary The author makes an attempt to present the teacher educator who becomes an organizer of pupils’ free

time. The article presents a few examples of preventive programmes which developed by teachers who are engaged in extra-lesson activity and attempt to organize free time for their pupils after lessons. The article categorizes features that characterize the free-time educator as well educational control styles which favour the development of children and youth.

Anna Róg The role and tasks of the educator in a day social support centre Summary The present paper contains an analysis of assignments and the role played by the educator in a daily

family support centre. Functions and tasks of such centres are described. In the context of such functions as care, upbringing, socialization, learning, compensation, actions which the educator should undertake are indicated in order to most fully support the families in their obligations and to help children in the process of socialization so that they can have care at an optimal level. Features of the optimum educator are also characterized and their desirable predispositions are described. Referring to current legislation, professional competences,

which the educator should have in the care and upbringing daily family support centres, are also indicated.

Anna Róg Educator or parent? On mother substitutes in SOS Children’s Villages Summary The present article deals with an analysis of work, assignments and the role played by substitute

mothers in SOS Children’s Villages in Poland. The aim of the article is to show the dualism of the function which is executed by women in charge of child care in these centres. One part of the article concerns the characterization of substitute parenthood undertaken by women in SOS Children’s Villages. Requirements expected from candidates to be substitute mothers and the rights and obligations resulting from contracts signed are described. The second part discusses how substitute mothers execute their family obligations in the centre. The family aspect of everyday upbringing and tasks of substitute mothers are described.

Paulina Forma, Małgorzata Wolska-Długosz Educator’s tasks in poor family assistance Summary Contemporary educators, who have influence on the upbringing of children and youth, face more and

more complex and new challenges. Social development involves many threats for the correctness of the process of the upbringing of children and youth. Norms and social values change along with the development of civilization. Phenomena which have a negative influence on the educational process are accepted and the divergence in the living standards of Polish society becomes apparent. Poverty, unemployment and resulting addictions are visible outcomes. School, and particularly a school educator, plays a very important role in the process of compensation of these unfavourable phenomena. The educator is obliged to apply preventive, re-socializational, re-educational measures targeted at children and their family. The assumption which lies at the foundation of the above-mentioned tasks is that the family is the most important social institution which should be supported by state institutions including school. Such an assumption is simultaneously a mission of the school educator, which are realized through clearly outlined aims by the state in order to create conditions for the development of family and the satisfaction of its vital and cultural needs. In order that pedagogic assistance could be effective, it is necessary to have a reliable diagnosis of the determinants, needs, problems, experiences, conditions, and also strong personal features.